Ecological Wisdom & the Environment

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein says she spent her “birthday weekend in Washington State with Greens and other activists taking part in the Break Free from Fossil Fuels global wave of action. And this was truly global: tens of thousands of activists in 13 countries joined together to march in the streets, occupy rail lines, harbors and mines, and hold vibrant community gatherings to demand that coal, oil and gas stay in the ground.”

Stein “joined the Mosquito Fleet ‘kayaktivists’ to occupy the harbor near Anacortes, where the Shell and Tesoro refineries make up the Pacific Northwest’s largest source of carbon pollution” last Friday, and on Saturday joined “the Indigenous Day of Action to break free from fossil fuels. For countless generations, Indigenous peoples have led the way as enlightened stewards of Mother Earth, a tradition that continues today.”

Stein said, “Throughout the weekend I was thrilled to see so many young people taking direct action in the vital movement for climate justice. They represent a new generation that isn’t fooled by a corporate media and political establishment that tries to disempower them.”

On Earth Day, the Green Party of the United States sent a “message to Bernie Sanders’ supporters: Green are preparing to welcome all those who want to maintain the political revolution that Mr. Sanders’ campaign represents if Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination,” the party said in a release.

Presidential candidate Jill Stein “is offering is something called the Green New Deal, a program that would not only bring the United States towards 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2030 but would ‘create 20 million jobs by investing in renewables such as wind, solar, tidal and geothermal, as well as public transit, sustainable agriculture, conservation and energy efficiency,'” according to Red Dirt Report. That would “make ‘wars for oil obsolete,'” Stein said in an Earth Day news release.

The Greens said they “are especially encouraging ‘Bernie Or Bust’ voters to vote Green, instead of writing in Mr. Sanders’ name or refusing to vote in the general election.” Stein discussed the possibility of teaming up with Sanders on the Acronym podcast this week.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein joined the University of Massachusetts Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign on Wednesday in the seventh day of their student action. After occupying an administration building for five days last week, the demonstration shifted to sit-ins outside the building earlier this week.

The Green Party of the United States National Committee has voted 67-14 to establish a GPUS Animal Rights Committee. There were eight abstentions. The National Committee voted to establish rules for the Animal Rights Committee by a similar margin.

According to the approved proposal, the Animal Rights Committee will “inform and advise Green Party candidates and officeholders on animal rights issues,” “develop resolutions and official position statements on animal rights issues, consistent with the GPUS Platform, for consideration by the National Committee,” “develop amendments to the GPUS Platform on animal rights issues, for consideration by the National Committee,” and “ropose endorsement of legislation of national and state significance, as well as endorsement of marches, demonstrations and similar actions of national significance, that support animal rights and are consistent with the GPUS Platform, for consideration by the National Committee,” among other tasks. The full text of the approved proposal is available online.

Maryland Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Margaret Flowers is calling on candidates nationwide to acknowledge and fight the corporate manipulation responsible for water crises across the United States. She is also calling for recognition that access to clean water is a fundamental human right, and should be protected for all people.

Flowers said, “It is World Water Day, and the United Nations estimates that there are over 600 million people without access to clean water. Environmental factors like like factory farming, increased pollution and overuse in industrial production are a major, preventable cause of water shortages. There is another preventable cause of water crises in U.S. cities — corporate manipulation of municipal water programs that steal funds needed to improve failing infrastructure. I am calling on candidates for public office at all levels to resist corporate water grabs that are preventing the repair of degrading water systems and putting people at risk.”

Maryland Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Margaret Flowers joined Flint, Michigan, residents and advocates at the Rayburn House Office Building Thursday to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency and Gov. Rick Snyder be held accountable for their inaction regarding water poisoning in the city.

“I went to speak with people and be in solidarity with them,” Flowers said. “There were so many people from Flint that I gave up my place in line. Let’s hope that those responsible are held accountable, that action is taken to provide clean water to everyone, and treatment for those who are impacted by the contamination and that processes are put in place so this doesn’t happen again.”

Flowers, a pediatrician, said the dangers in the U.S. water supply go far beyond Flint, as is evident from the recent discovery of lead in Newark, New Jersey, school water supplies and New York Sen. Charles Schumer’s introduction of legislation to authorize federal grants for local school water testing after lead was found in water at two Ithaca schools. Also in Schumer’s home state, the toxic industrial pollutant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) recently poisoned the water supply of about 4,000 upstate New Yorkers.

While Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was not at the hearing, she said Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy should “be removed from office and face any appropriate charges for overseeing this health disaster. Americans across the country owe thanks to the Flint community. By standing up for health and democracy in Flint, they are standing up for us all.”

The Green Party of the United States is calling on Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying it “poses a grave threat to democratically enacted environmental, labor, public health, and other legal protections.”

Colorado Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Arn Menconi said, “The TPP, if enacted, would be a coup for corporate oligarchy and a blow to democracy and the public interest. It was negotiated in secret with the help of 600 ‘trade advisors’ from powerful multinational corporations. It would establish a mechanism to override democratically enacted laws by handing legislative and judicial power to a small panel of corporate lawyers.”

Joe Manchik, Green Party candidate for U.S. House in Ohio’s 12th District, said, “Congress must kill the TPP now, before a new president and new Congress are inaugurated. President Obama used his final State of the Union address on Jan. 13 to promote the TPP, which may prove to be the most damaging legacy of his administration. … The TPP will sell the American people’s sovereignty over our nation down the river to the multinational corporations that own the Democratic-Republican Duopoly Party.”

In addition, Sanda Everette of the Coordinating Committee of the Green Party of California, who attended the COP21 climate change summit in Paris last year, said, “The TPP would have greater force than the agreement decided on by the nations of the world at COP21. It creates a legal tool to block measures against global warming that step on the toes of powerful corporations.”

The Michigan Green Party is demanding that the U.S. government “use all its considerable resources to supply the people of Flint with safe water in sufficient quantities for drinking, bathing, cooking and cleaning,” the party said.

Candace Caveny, the 2014 candidate for lieutenant governor, said, “There needs to be a full and immediate mobilization of all the resources at the disposal of the federal government to provide Flint with safe water. … The government has the ability and the resources to supply every resident of Flint with safe water in amounts necessary for daily life. They must do so immediately.”

John Anthony La Pietra, who ran for state attorney general that same year, said, “With our state government involved up to the highest level, we need independent investigations to find everyone responsible for this tragedy — and to make sure they face all appropriate civil penalties, recall for elected officials, and criminal charges up to possible depraved-heart murder.”

Maryland Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Margaret Flowers is calling for congressional action to address the impacts of the more than 15,000 abandoned and exposed hazardous uranium mines throughout the United States. Flowers works with Clean Up The Mines! and Popular Resistance, which are meeting this week in Washington to raise awareness of the continuing radioactive contamination affecting millions of people.

Flowers said in a statement, “In the Senate I will sponsor the Uranium Exploration and Mining Accountability Act. Because there are no laws on the books, corporations and the federal government are evading responsibility for cleaning up these toxic, hazardous sites. They are an invisible threat causing cancers, birth defects and diseases. We must introduce legislation to clean up the mines and affected areas, provide clean water and compensate individuals who are suffering adverse health effects from living near them.”

Longtime Green Party activist Howie Hawkins was arrested Tuesday for his participation in the We Are Seneca Lake blockade against the Crestwood gas storage facility in upstate New York. According to the Green Party of New York, Hawkins “joined a U.S. armed forces veterans contingent in a human chain across the entrance to Crestwood Midstream on Route 14.” Hawkins is a Marine veteran who “remained active in the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements” during his service.

Green Party of New York co-chair Gloria Mattera said, “The Green Party is proud to support We Are Seneca Lake’s ongoing civil disobedience campaign against methane gas storage. Their heroic efforts remind us that, while New York is not fracking, we are still bound to an undemocratic fossil fuel system that is deadly to our climate and communities.”

Protesters have been blocking the Crestwood gas storage facility gates since October 2014. The We Are Seneca Lake movement opposes Crestwood’s plans for methane and LPG storage in lakeside salt caverns.

Hawkins was one of the co-founders of the Green Party of the United States in 1984, and has made New York bids for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, and comptroller, as well as several county and city-level offices. In his 2014 gubernatorial run, he received nearly 185,000 votes, just under five percent of the total. In 2015, he won 35% of the vote in his run for Syracuse City Auditor.